I am new to 3D printing, but have always wanted to get into it. Unfortunately, I have very limited space and no dedicated area that I could call my workshop. I also travel frequently, and I would like something where I could take it with me for the day.

Therefore, I would like a portable, or at least very small printer. AFAIK, the new Positron V3.2 is purpose-built to solve this kind of problem.

I am asking whether that model is a good idea for a beginner. My main concern is the price, which I am willing to put up with if there really is no other portable printer.

My other concern is just the fact that it is new and I may be too inexperienced with printers to deal with problems that are natural in first-gen products. I have a decent amount of experience soldering and other electronics work, but nothing with small moving parts. Also IDK if sourcing parts would be an issue.

If, in your experiences, these make it not worth it as a first printer, what would you recommend as a portable printer?

  • ShadowA
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    6 months ago

    I just realized… it looks like an upside down printer? The extruder is on the bottom on x/y sliders and the bed moves up. That feels like a bad idea to me, it’ll make bed adhesion so much more important.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_QLxTVtyng

    I’m skeptical of claims + quality

    • HewlettHackard
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      6 months ago

      If you think about bed adhesion, the forces on a light plastic part from gravity are negligible. Think of how much force it takes to pop a finished part off the bed compared to the weight of the part. When you have adhesion problems, I’m sure the plastic shrinkage is causing pretty large forces (or on a tall part the nozzle bumps the top of the print and has a long lever arm to pry the part off the build surface).